


"Like a Bad Habit"

by Mijan



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Comment Fic, Gen, Male Friendship, Star Trek: AOS, Starfleet Academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-23
Updated: 2012-01-23
Packaged: 2017-10-30 00:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/325888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mijan/pseuds/Mijan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spring semester, first year at the Academy.  Finals are over, and Jim finds himself feeling restless.  It's Saturday morning, and Leonard finds himself woken up with a call from the infirmary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Like a Bad Habit"

**Author's Note:**

> This was comment-fic inspired by [these pictures](http://community.livejournal.com/jim_and_bones/299458.html) of Chris Pine and Karl Urban on the [jim_and_bones](http://jim-and-bones.livejournal.com/) community. This is Star Trek fic, not RPF.

 

"Yes, sir. I'll come get him, sir."

Leonard flipped his comm shut and groaned. It was Saturday morning. He could be sleeping in. Academy life was hellishly busy and exhausting, and every scrap of sleep was precious. He'd finished his midterm exams yesterday, and had been looking forward to a glorious night of sleep that would end sometime around noon. But no...

*********

"Hey Bones!" Jim's impetuous smile was marred by both a rough abrasion across his left cheek and just a hint of nervousness peeking through the cracks. His dark blue t-shirt was filthy, and with the fresh rips and dirt on his jeans, he looked like he was twelve years old, despite the stubble on his chin.  His eyes were just the slightest bit out of focus.

 _Yep, the kid’s got a concussion, alright._   “Jim,” he greeted flatly.

“You didn't have to come get me."

"That's not what Doctor Carlson said, you infantile imbecile."

Leonard leaned over Jim and looked him in the eye, watching for pupil dilation, then prodded his face lightly, satisfied that the bones had been set well enough by the duty doc in the infirmary. Then he cast a furious glance down at the antiquated contraption propped against the bench Jim was sitting on. It was a long, narrow board attached to two sets of wheels. Leonard growled at it. "A damned skateboard, Jim?"

"It's a streetboard, actually."

"I don't care what you call it! Why the hell were you riding it down the running trails between Main Campus and Crissy Field?"

Jim had the good graces to almost look sheepish. "Because they're perfect for this?"

Leonard rolled his eyes, and unceremoniously grabbed Jim by the arm and hauled him to his feet. Jim barely managed to reach back and grab his goddamned streetboard before half-stumbling out the door under Leonard's direction. "Take it easy there, Bones!"

"Take it easy, my ass. Those trails to Crissy Field are too damned steep, and the curves are too damned tight for shit like that.  It’s bad enough that you whacked your head.  That brain-box of yours has seen enough damage.  You're lucky you didn't break your neck."

"I landed in a bush, so it was fine."

"Must have been a wild dill plant. You smell like a pickle."

Jim frowned as he finally got his feet to keep pace with Leonard's stride. "So that's what that was."

"And if you hadn't landed in a bush, Jim?" Leonard pushed, refusing to let himself get side-tracked. "If you'd spilled out over the steeper edge of the trail and had tumbled fifty meters before smashing your head on a rock? And if nobody had been around?"

"But I didn't. And there was." Jim's voice was plaintive this time, but Leonard heard the slight waver in it. He was getting through.

"But you could have. And there might not have been."

For a long moment, silence stretched between them, creating a painfully large gap despite the fact that Leonard still had Jim's arm in his grasp. Feeling suddenly awkward, he dropped Jim's arm. Next to him, Jim wrapped his arms across his chest, clutching his board tightly. They said nothing.

Finally, they arrived at Leonard's dorm room. There was no question of where they were going. Leonard had a single room, and Jim's roommate was a stuffy little engineering cadet who glared irritably whenever anything interrupted his studies, so they always defaulted to Leonard's room.

As Jim made himself comfortable in the living area, Leonard went to his tiny kitchenette and started a pot of coffee.  He hadn’t had nearly enough sleep, and he’d love to kick Jim back out of his dorm and crawl back into bed.  However, he knew he couldn’t do that.  He was going to watch the kid for the next twenty-four hours, waking him up every two hours overnight.  Like a damned babysitter… or a best friend.   

A few minutes later, carrying two cups of coffee, he came out to the little sitting area to see Jim sprawled on the couch, using his skateboard - no, _streetboard_ \- as a pillow.

Leonard looked at him for a minute before putting Jim's cup on the small table between them. Jim made no move to get it.

Shaking his head, Leonard sat down on his armchair, took a sip of coffee, and said, "So, after the exam schedule you had last week, _why_ were you out joyriding on that death-board instead of sleeping like any normal human being?"

Jim snorted. "Since when have I done anything the normal way, Bones?" He clutched his board a bit tighter. "Woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Still too keyed up from the exams. Going for a ride seemed like a good idea."

"Reckless, dangerous idea, you mean."

"I'm good at this, Bones. I’ve been skating since I was a kid.”  Then he sighed.  “It was a bit of freedom when I felt trapped.  I could leave the house and head down to the park and forget about everything for a little while.  And it still feels like that sometimes." He blinked slowly, and his eyes looked so clear and honest, his face so young, that for a moment, Leonard almost forgot that this was the same Jim he saw every day.

Jim nodded, seeing that Leonard understood. "If that lady with the baby buggy hadn't come around the curve in the trail at _just_ the wrong moment, I would have made the turn."

"Maybe," Leonard said noncommittally.

"Besides, Bones, I'm sure you did enough dangerous and reckless things when you were younger."

Leonard scowled, combing through his memories.  Recklessness hadn’t been his thing.  He had a penchant for playing pranks during his undergrad and med school, but never anything dangerous to himself or anyone else.  Never anything that had gotten him injured.  Although he _had_ made one stupid mistake, now that he thought about it.  "Well, I did smoke a cigar after I passed my boards and got my medical license."

Jim actually raised his head from the streetboard and gave a teasing laugh. "You call that dangerous?"

Leonard kept his gaze level.  "It was made with Cardassian tobacco."

Jim's mocking eyes suddenly popped wide open in disbelief and he finally sat up, leaning his streetboard against the side of the couch. "Holy fuck, you smoked Cardiassian tobacco?  That stuff… shit... you win."

Leonard shook his head. "No, I didn't win. The five of us ended up in the ER that night. Do you know how embarrassing it is to get lectured by your own coworkers in the ER when you _just_ got licensed?"

Jim opened his mouth, but a grin was already creeping across his cheeks. "Pretty embarrassing."

"You bet your ass." Leonard took another sip of coffee. "But anyway... we're awake now. Drink your coffee kid."

"Sure, Bones." He picked up his coffee and started to take a sip.

"And maybe tomorrow… after we’re sure you haven’t knocked your pea-brain around too hard in that thick skull of yours," Leonard continued, "want to go out to Golden Gate Park? I hear they've got a skateboard complex up there. Maybe you could show me some moves."

Jim's eyes turned into saucers behind the rim of his cup, and he gulped the sip thickly, coughing a couple of times. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, you reckless daredevil. I'd love to see what you can do. But one thing, first."

"Sure?"

"You're wearing a goddamned helmet and set of pads. You got it?"

Jim grinned. "Sure thing, Bones. Sure thing."  
  


*********


End file.
